WTC7 seems to be a classic controlled demolition. WTC 1 &2 destruction appears to have been enhanced by thermate (a variation of thermite) in addition.
Pentagon was not struck by a passenger aircraft. It was a drone or missle.

Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres to World Economic Forum in Sharm El SheikhSunday May 21: To Participate in Panel with Palestinian President Abu Mazen,Director of the Office of His Majesty King of Jordan His Excellency Dr.Bassem Awadallah Phd

Jill Marie Reinach - Vice Prime Minister's Office 19 May 2006

VICE PRIME MINISTER PERES:"The best way to help the Palestinian people is to help them build a moderneconomy that will provide jobs, not through the granting of financial aid tothe Hamas Government mechanism."

Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres will attend the World Economic Forum inSharm El Sheikh Sunday May 21. There he will participate on a special panelthat will address the issues of regional economic development and thePalestinian economy. The President of the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazenand Director of the Office of His Majesty King of Jordan His Excellency Dr.Bassem Awadallah Phd, and Alvaro De Soto - UN Special Coordinator for theMiddle East Peace Process will also participate on this panel. The panelwill take place at 13:15-14:45.

The Vice Prime Minister will present his ideas about regional economicdevelopment as well as a series of important economic projects betweenIsrael and the Jordanians, the Egyptians and the PA. The Vice PrimeMinister noted "Such regional development projects will generate employmentfor 1000s of Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians." Peres added, "The bestway to help the Palestinan people is to help them build a modern economythat will provide jobs, not through the granting of financial aid to theHamas Government mechanism."

Vice Prime Minister Peres will also address the issue of advancing thedevelopment of alternative energy sources. In this context he told aEuropean delegation yesterday , "Israel has made is a priority that energyshould not only come from oil, coal, gas. In this context, we are advancingthe development of solar energy. It is perhaps preferable to depend upon thesun as a source of energy as the sun shines for all the nations of the worldand will be around forever."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni instructed Israeli Ambassador to Poland DavidPeleg to express Israel's concern to Polish President Lech Kaczyskifollowing the inclusion of a party that has an anti-Semitic ideology inPoland's governing coalition. Polish President Kaczy?ski reiterated hiscountry's commitment to foster the memory of the Holocaust and fightanti-Semitism alongside Israel. Ambassador Peleg also met with Polish PrimeMinister Kazimierz Marciniewicz and Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga onthis matter; he emphasized both the centrality of the Holocaust for Israeland Jewish communities around the world and the danger involved in bringinganti-Semitic movements into government.

Senior US government sources, speaking ahead of Olmert's Washington visit,say that the US won't support, or object to the convergence plan. Washingtonprefers to wait to see if Hamas will change path or lose powerYitzhak Ben Horin YNET 19 May 2006www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3252707,00.html

The U.S. government is not a hurry to support the unilateral convergenceproblem, a senior US government aid has said, due the belief that Hamascould change its path or lose power as a result of international pressure,and the severe economic crisis in the Palestinian Authority.

Ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Washington, sources inthe US government expressed reservations over the schedule for unilateralaction. "No one is presenting a schedule. There is time for everyone. Olmerttoo is talking about 2007. Until then, changes can take place in Palestinianpolitics," the sources said, adding: "The pressure on Hamas is only at thebeginning, and we could see a change."

While the US prefers to wait, Europe has made an unequivocal declarationthat unilateral steps are unacceptable in its view. French Foreign MinisterPhilippe Douste-Blazy said at the end of a meeting Foreign Minister TzipiLivni that "the stance of the European Union and France is a correctdecision which can be kept, and won't be obtained in any way other thannegotiations between the sides. It is unacceptable that an internationalborder be drawn up unilaterally."

The Americans will tell Olmert that the US is interested in Israel renewingcontacts with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, especially over the issues ofcooperation on border crossings and humanitarian aid.

'I'll meet with Abbas if he fights terror'

Olmert has expressed willingness to meet with Abbas during a meeting withthe French foreign minister. With that, Olmert conditioned the meeting onAbbas fighting terrorism.

"Mahmoud Abbas must start to keep the obligations the Palestinians took onthemselves in the context of the Road Map," said Olmert.

In Washington, the US expects to hear about Olmert's plan, but won't expresssupport or objection to the plan, which has still not been formulated to thepoint of details. Bush and Olmert will meet on Tuesday, and AmericanNational Security Council has prepared a list of ten questions, lined to thequestion, that will be presented to Olmert during his visit.

Olmert will also be asked if the IDF will remain on both sides of thesecurity fence after the withdrawal, as well as the timing of discussionswith Jordan on its involvement in the plan. Other questions will probe thesecurity fence's legal standing, and whether Israeli views the fence as abase for an international border.

The US will tell Olmert that it has not changed its stance supporting asolution obtained through negotiations between the sides for theestablishment of a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, andPresident Bush will seek to know how Olmert's plan fits into that principle.

(05.19.06, 09:40)

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From: imra@netvision.net.ilTo: imra@imra.org.ilSubject: Israel and U.S. at odds over nuclear treaty proposal

Israel and U.S. at odds over nuclear treaty proposalBy Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent 19 May 2006www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/717636.html

The United States on Thursday published a draft of a new internationaltreaty that would forbid the production of fissionable materials for use innuclear weapons, overriding Israel's objections to the proposed document.

The draft, which was presented to the UN Disarmament Commission in Geneva,aims to "freeze" existing stocks of fissionable materials worldwide in orderto keep them from expanding.

Although Washington sent messages to Israel assuring it that it has nothingto fear from the treaty, Jerusalem is worried by any move that might erodeits policy of nuclear ambiguity and generate future pressures on it over itsnuclear program. As a result, Israel made a last-minute effort to persuadethe U.S. not to submit the draft for discussion: The chairman and deputychairman of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, Gideon Frank and Eli Levita,were in Washington last week, where they are believed to have raised thisissue with their American counterparts.

Washington has also rejected Israel's request for an upgrade in its civiliannuclear status. Israel's ability to purchase civilian nuclear technology,including spare parts, is currently very limited, because in order topreserve ambiguity over whether it has nuclear weapons, it has refused tosign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Some 10 months ago, however,the U.S. signed an agreement to sell civilian nuclear technology to India,which has also not signed the NPT; and while that agreement has not yet beenratified by Congress, Israel was hoping that it could cut a similar deal.

However, the U.S. said that it is too soon to discuss Israel's request onthis issue, since it requires thorough study by administration professionalsfirst. The administration therefore asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert not toraise this issue during his visit to Washington next week.

The proposed "nuclear-freeze" treaty first came up for discussion in the UNDisarmament Commission eight years ago, and aroused serious concerns inIsrael. Then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a forceful letter tothen president Bill Clinton saying that for security reasons, Israel wouldnever sign such a treaty, and Ehud Barak, then head of the opposition, alsosigned the letter, to show that there was unanimity on this issue amongIsrael's two major parties.

In response, Clinton sent Netanyahu a letter pledging that the U.S. wouldconsult with Israel over any arms-control initiative liable to affect it,and he reiterated this pledge in a letter to Barak when Barak was electedprime minister.

The new draft of the treaty proposed by the U.S. on Thursday is less strictthan previous drafts. It would require signatories to pledge not to produceplutonium or enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, but would establish nocontrol and verification mechanism. It would also not apply to preexistingstocks of fissionable materials.

Egypt, which has been waging an international campaign against Israel'snuclear program, immediately responded by demanding that the treaty coverpreexisting stocks as well, and that it include a control and verificationmechanism.

Other countries also have reservations about the draft, so it appearsunlikely that it will be approved anytime soon.

Even if approved, however, the treaty would do nothing to halt Iran'ssuspected nuclear weapons program, since Iran insists that it is enrichinguranium strictly for civilian use.

Washington decided to move forward with the treaty as part of its effort toobtain ratification for its deal with India. The deal requires ratificationby two bodies - the U.S. Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), anumbrella organization of 45 countries that export nuclear fuel andtechnology.

The administration has encountered strong opposition from both bodies, andthe new treaty is aimed at softening this opposition.

Alongside its talks with Washington, Israel has been negotiating with theNSG in an effort to obtain associate status, or at least formal recognitionthat it complies with the NSG's export guidelines, which have been enactedinto Israeli law.

From: imra@netvision.net.ilTo: imra@imra.org.ilSubject: Text: PM Olmert New York Times interview

Israel Will Buy Supplies for Gaza Hospitals, Premier SaysBy STEVEN ERLANGER and GREG MYRE The New York TimesPublished: May 19, 2006www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/middleeast/19mideast.html

JERUSALEM, May 18 - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said Thursday thatIsrael would buy drugs and medical equipment urgently needed by Palestinianhospitals in Gaza out of funds Israel is withholding from tax and customsreceipts collected for the Palestinian Authority.

In an hourlong interview in his Jerusalem office, Mr. Olmert vehementlydenied that there was any Palestinian "humanitarian crisis," calling it "forthe time being total propaganda" based on what he was told by the Israelimilitary and intelligence officials he met with on Wednesday.

But as he prepared to leave Sunday for his first meeting as prime ministerwith President Bush, Mr. Olmert was also eager to short-circuit criticism ofIsraeli restrictions on the Palestinians since the militant group Hamas tookcontrol of the Palestinian government and to show that Israel was notprepared to see Palestinians suffer. His plan to pull thousands of Israelisout of West Bank settlements is a prime topic on the agenda for his Americanvisit.

"We will pay if necessary out of our own pockets," he said, and get what isneeded directly to the hospitals "as soon as possible," circumventing theHamas government. "We wouldn't allow one baby to suffer one night because ofa lack of dialysis," he said.

Mr. Olmert said he had agreed to take "the calculated risk" of opening theKarni crossing between Israel and Gaza in both directions despite securitythreats. On Thursday, however, Karni was open only for exports to Gazabecause of "security reasons," the Israeli Army said.

The Palestinians, Mr. Olmert insisted in his excellent English, "are thevictims of their own extremist, fundamentalist, religious, inflexible andunyielding leadership, and we will do everything in our power to help theseinnocent people."

After the victory of Hamas in late January, Israel decided to withhold $50million a month in customs and tax receipts, though it continues to payIsraeli companies about $5.5 million a month from those receipts for thewater and electricity used by the Palestinians.

Mr. Olmert said he was "ready tomorrow" to end the customs agreement andallow the Palestinians to collect the receipts directly. "Let them collectthe money and see what happens," he said. "This money would disappear intothe private pockets of the corrupt administration of the PalestinianAuthority."

The Hamas government has been unable to pay salaries for more than twomonths.

Israel, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the UnitedNations - as well as the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas - havedemanded that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist, forswear violence andrespect previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements, or lose nonemergency aid.Hamas has said it cannot recognize Israel, and though it has largely held toa truce with the Israelis, it has supported the right of other militants tocontinue their "resistance against Israeli occupation."

Mr. Olmert, 60, was elected as head of the new Kadima Party on an explicitpromise to try to set Israel's "permanent borders," unilaterally ifnecessary. An estimated 70,000 Jewish settlers live beyond the West Bankseparation barrier, which would form the basis for the border. He has calledhis ambitious project "hitkansut," which best translates as consolidation.If he is to succeed, he will need financial support from the United States.His West Bank plans are estimated to cost at least $10 billion.

This first trip to Washington is for discussion, Mr. Olmert said, callingconsolidation "a dynamic concept" requiring preparation. "What I can talkabout at this point is the basic desire to set borders for Israel, toseparate from the Palestinians, and to create a contiguous territory thatwill allow the Palestinians to fulfill their national dreams and establishtheir own independent state alongside the state of Israel."

The plan, he said, "needs to be coordinated with a lot of sensitivity withour different partners, particularly the United Statesgovernment and the president, and of course, the United Nations, theEuropeans, the Russians."

What about the Palestinians?

He stopped and said, "I don't believe that at any time in the future we willchange things without talking to the Palestinians."But the decision, he made clear, would be Israel's.

Mr. Bush is the crucial figure, Mr. Olmert said. "I feel that I come to mysenior partner, and I hope that he is ready to accept me as his partner."

His predecessor and ally, Ariel Sharon, believed that the United States wasIsrael's only real ally. Mr. Olmert, almost 20 years younger, is aprofessional politician who did not come out of the election with as stronga mandate as he and Washington might have hoped. Some American officials areconcerned that Mr. Olmert may have bitten off more than he - or, perhaps, apolitically weakened Mr. Bush - can chew.

Mr. Olmert refused to specify his timetable, but Washington and the EuropeanUnion want him to try to negotiate first with Mr. Abbas. Mr. Olmert does notwant to get trapped into talks whose failure could start another round ofviolence.

Asked if it was possible to negotiate seriously with Mr. Abbas about a finalsettlement while Hamas is in power, Mr. Olmert said, "This is the mainquestion." Mr. Abbas must first dismantle Hamas as an armed terrorist group,Mr. Olmert said. "He must rise to the opportunity and to the challenge andtake vigorous action against the terrorist organizations, including Hamas."

Isn't that a call for Mr. Abbas to start a civil war?

"It's not a call automatically for a civil confrontation," Mr. Olmert said."At the same time, I have to say, how can any political entity tolerate theexistence of many armed groups fighting against each other in the streets?"

Mr. Abbas, Mr. Olmert said, "has to force Hamas to change, has to impose onHamas the acceptance of Israel and the recognition of all the agreementssigned with Israel and the disarming of its militant groups, because if not,then the damage threatening the Palestinian Authority is devastating."

Mr. Olmert called the Palestinians natural partners of Israelis but thehistorical victims of "irresponsible, reckless, corrupt leadership and atotal lack of democratic traditions that always drew them away from themainstream and into the sidelines, and into tragedies and pain."

The Palestinians, unlike Iran, were no existential threat to Israel now, hesaid, "But the challenge of the Palestinians raises fundamental issues ofidentity for the state of Israel." He compared the issue, and implicitly theoccupation, to a suppurating wound. "When you have an open wound, and you'rebleeding in your belly, even when this doesn't jeopardize your life, itoccupies all of your attention most of the time and it deprives you of thejoy of life."

An Israel without final borders "is a significant absence, which I thinkstretches far beyond the political aspect into almost all aspects of life,"he said. "We have to set borders, and to define strict lines of what isright and what is wrong. It's not just a political issue, it's a socialissue, it's a cultural issue."

Mr. Olmert knows that given the often short shelf life of Israeligovernments, he cannot wait too long, despite world pressure to negotiate,before beginning his unilateral pullback from the West Bank.

"Like all the prime ministers that were elected, my desire is to last inpower for enough time in order to be able to carry out my dreams," he said,then added a little wistfully, "Yet I know that if I wait too much, thenmaybe the dreams will remain dreams, and they will never become reality."

Joseph Lerner, 84, an economist who specialized in energy issues for avariety of federal agencies, died May 14 at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.He had a cerebral hemorrhage.

Dr. Lerner began his career at the Bureau of Mines in the early 1950s andlater held positions with Resources for the Future, an economic research andpolicy organization; the Office of Emergency Preparedness; and the TreasuryDepartment.

Starting in 1976, he spent a decade at the Federal Trade Commission and didsignificant analytic work on investigations into price-fixing among oilcompanies as well as larger competition issues affecting energy policy.

Dr. Lerner, the son of a Russian immigrant grocer, was a Baltimore nativeand 1943 graduate of Johns Hopkins University. He received a doctorate ineconomics from Harvard University.

After retiring in 1986, he moved from Takoma Park to Jerusalem and helpedstart a family business, Independent Media Review and Analysis, whichprovides summaries of Israeli politics and larger Middle East affairs with aviewpoint aligned with Israel.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Sue Lerner, and three children,Aaron Lerner, Berel Lerner and Tessa Auman, all of Israel; 14 grandchildren;and a great-grandchild.

In a security forces operation a short while ago in Gaza city, the IDFcarried out an aerial attack against a vehicle carrying a senior IslamicJihad terrorist involved in the launching of Projectile Rockets (includingthe Ketyusha missiles) at Israel and other terror activities.

GAZA, Palestine, May20,2006 (IPC+ Agencies) -[Official PA website] -ThePresident Mahmoud Abbas gave today his instructions to launch aninvestigation to unfathomed the circumstances of the assassination attemptagainst the intelligence service chief Gen. Tareq Abu Rajab and stressed onthe need to speed the investigations to know the perpetrators and hold themaccountable.

Abu Rajab has survived aborted assassination attempt today when an explosionoccurred in his office's elevator in the Palestinian intelligence servicehead office in Al Sudanyia area, North West of the city, yielded one of hisbodyguards killed, abu Rajab badly injured and 11 others wounded.

On the other hand, the Palestinian government in a statement deplored theincident and send good wishes of very recovery for Abu Rajab and thewounded.

Ghazi Hamad, Cabinet spokesperson said that the Prime Minister IsmaelHaneyah fob watched the development of the incident with the interiorminister Said Seyam and the dedicated parties to probe the incident as theinterior minister ordered to form an investigation committee on theincident.

The government also emphasized its concern to open investigation in theincident and called for self-restrain and bush away pre-accusations as itwill inflame further tension.

To this point, the director General of emergency award at the healthministry Mauwia Abu Hussnein reported that 12 of Abu Rajab's bodyguards weredifferently wounded, among were four critically. He also added Abu Rajabcase is stable.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.ilTo: imra@imra.org.ilSubject: President Abbas Orders a Probe in Illegal Entry of EUR639,000 into the Strip

President Abbas Orders a Probe in Illegal Entry of EUR639,000 into the Stripwww.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=16086

Abu Nahla, pointed out that the management of the crossing followed thelegal procedures in this regard and Abu Zuhri was inquired about accreditedpapers proved the source of the money and to whom the money will be handedout in the Strip but after it is turned out Abu Zhri has no documentations,the cash was handed to Palestinian customs officers under the authority ofthe President Abbas.

Abu Nahala told Al Ayam daily that Abu Zuhri refused to leave the crossingwithout Money, signaling out that tens of the armed men from Ezz Al Din AlQassam , military wing of Hamas rushed to the crossing, and stood at itsmain gate tensions overwhelmed, prompted the European monitoring team tothreat withdrawal if the militants do not leave the crossing.

On its part, reliable sources said that intensive contacts were made AbuZuhri followed by the arrival of delegations from the government, headed bythe cabinet's spokesperson Ghazi Hamad who discussed the issue with theCrossing's officers, finally, Abu Zuhi was set free and the cash transferredto the interior ministry for investigation.

About the reports of a deal between the cabinet delegation and themanagement of the crossing Abu Nahla denied the Crossing Management is apart of such a deal underlining that the management handled the issue incompliance to the followed legal formalities.

Mr. Zuhari, who was returning from Qatar, told the reporters after leavingthe crossing the cash came from donations made by Arab countries to helpPalestinian prisoners.

Julio De La Guardia, a spokesman for a European Union monitering at theRafah border crossing told DPA News Agency that Abu Zuhri was returning backto Gaza Strip with cash money hidden in a belt worn by Sami Abu Zuhari

He also made clear that travelers crossing through Rafah must declare allsums over $2,000 and explain its origin.

"He [Abu Zuhri] did not declare that money, he tried to smuggle it," De LaGuardia said.

In this connection, Nabil Abu Rudenh, President Abbas's key aide said thatthe implementation of legal procedures at Rafah border crossing is to keepintact the Palestinian interests and provide no pretenses to lock down thecrossing.

Abu Rudenh, told WAFA News Agency "no one has the right to behaveirresponsibly and brings catastrophes to the Palestinian people."

GAZA, Palestine, May 20, 2006 (IPC + Agencies) -[Official PA website] -Security sources confirmed that the meeting held yesterday between theInterior Minister Said Siyam and a number of security chiefs, has ended withan agreement not to deploy the newly-formed "support force" near thegatherings of regular security forces or their buildings, in order toprevent the friction that has been happening for the past two days.

The sources, which spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that themeeting was a positive one and included Minister Siyam, the chief ofnational security in Gaza Strip and the director-general of the InteriorMinistry Rashid Abu Shbak, where several issues related to the securitysituation were discussed, including the integration of resistance activistsfrom different factions into the regular security services, after receivingproper training and financial endorsement from the Finance Ministry.

These sources further noted that the presidency establishment is stillagainst the formation of the support force, asserting that the presidency isnot against integrating resistance activists in the security services thatwere formed under the Basic Law, but rather against integrating them innewly-formed forces based on factional considerations, according to thesource.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has confirmed that the Palestinian governmentwill not take any steps backwards regarding the support force, stressingthat this force will remain to support the role of police, and will performits duties in the framework of the police.

"If need be we will increase the number of this force," PM Haniya said,adding that internal security is a priority for the government, andexplaining that the members of this force will wear police uniforms, as2,000 uniforms have been prepared for them.

Haniya reiterated the legality of this force, saying that it was formed bythe law and according to the authorities given to the government, and inagreement with President Mahmoud Abbas, but noted that some officers insecurity services and police have unfortunately refused to respond to theclear instructions of the Interior Minister.

On his part, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Al Tayyeb Abdel Rahim,expressed astonishment over the "stressful" attitude of Prime MinisterHaniya during the Friday sermon he gave in Gaza, which was related to thelegitimacy of the support force that was formed by the Interior Ministry andhis desire to increase its members.

"This position by the Prime Minister contradicts legitimacy, and we wantedhim to refrain from these nervous and illegal position while heading agovernment the presidency have asserted is a government that represents theentire Palestinian people, and have made all its efforts to help it andrefuse any attempts to isolate it or thwart its efforts," Abdel Rahim said.

He mentioned that President Abbas has informed the Prime Minister andInterior Minister he does not object to integrating all the members of thearmed resistance groups into the regular security services, after trainingthem properly to be law officers, and after receiving the approval of theFinance Minister to include them on the payroll of security services - asmembers and not as an independent or alternative security apparatus.

May 20th 2006BACKGROUND INFORMATIONAttributed to "security sources"[PROVIDED BY IDF SPOKESPERSON]

Islamic Jihad terrorist targeted identified as Muhamad Dahduh

In a security forces operation a short while ago in Gaza city, the IDFcarried out an aerial attack against a vehicle carrying Muhamad Dahduh, awanted senior Islamic Jihad terrorist involved in the launching ofprojectile rockets, including Ketyusha rockets, at Israel and other terroractivities.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke this evening (Saturday), 20.5.06, withEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who telephoned to wish him well ahead ofhis trip to the US. The Egyptian President updated the Prime Minister onthe economic conference at Sharm e-Sheikh and on his meetings tomorrow withPalestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen, Vice Premier Shimon Peres andForeign Minister Tzipi Livni. Egyptian President Mubarak invited PrimeMinister Olmert to visit Egypt following his return from the US. The PrimeMinister thanked the Egyptian President for his good wishes and said that hewould be pleased to visit him and continue working together to advance peacein the region.

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From: imra@netvision.net.ilTo: imra@imra.org.ilSubject: President Abbas: integrate all armed resistance groups members into the regular security services

GAZA, Palestine, May 20, 2006 (IPC + Agencies) -[Official PA website] -Security sources confirmed that the meeting held yesterday between theInterior Minister Said Siyam and a number of security chiefs, has ended withan agreement not to deploy the newly-formed "support force" near thegatherings of regular security forces or their buildings, in order toprevent the friction that has been happening for the past two days.

The sources, which spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that themeeting was a positive one and included Minister Siyam, the chief ofnational security in Gaza Strip and the director-general of the InteriorMinistry Rashid Abu Shbak, where several issues related to the securitysituation were discussed, including the integration of resistance activistsfrom different factions into the regular security services, after receivingproper training and financial endorsement from the Finance Ministry.

These sources further noted that the presidency establishment is stillagainst the formation of the support force, asserting that the presidency isnot against integrating resistance activists in the security services thatwere formed under the Basic Law, but rather against integrating them innewly-formed forces based on factional considerations, according to thesource.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has confirmed that the Palestinian governmentwill not take any steps backwards regarding the support force, stressingthat this force will remain to support the role of police, and will performits duties in the framework of the police.

"If need be we will increase the number of this force," PM Haniya said,adding that internal security is a priority for the government, andexplaining that the members of this force will wear police uniforms, as2,000 uniforms have been prepared for them.

Haniya reiterated the legality of this force, saying that it was formed bythe law and according to the authorities given to the government, and inagreement with President Mahmoud Abbas, but noted that some officers insecurity services and police have unfortunately refused to respond to theclear instructions of the Interior Minister.

On his part, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Al Tayyeb Abdel Rahim,expressed astonishment over the "stressful" attitude of Prime MinisterHaniya during the Friday sermon he gave in Gaza, which was related to thelegitimacy of the support force that was formed by the Interior Ministry andhis desire to increase its members.

"This position by the Prime Minister contradicts legitimacy, and we wantedhim to refrain from these nervous and illegal position while heading agovernment the presidency have asserted is a government that represents theentire Palestinian people, and have made all its efforts to help it andrefuse any attempts to isolate it or thwart its efforts," Abdel Rahim said.

He mentioned that President Abbas has informed the Prime Minister andInterior Minister he does not object to integrating all the members of thearmed resistance groups into the regular security services, after trainingthem properly to be law officers, and after receiving the approval of theFinance Minister to include them on the payroll of security services - asmembers and not as an independent or alternative security apparatus.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.ilTo: imra@imra.org.ilSubject: Another Tack: Lifers here and there

You bet your bottom dollar convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui wasright when he crowed (after having just escaped the death sentence):"America you lost, I won." He may seem nuts to forward-thinking Americansbut his horse-sense - barbaric though it be - is the sort by which al-Qaida,Hamas, et al. devise their rules of war - the very war they impose onbroadminded sorts like us.

Our choice is either to confront them on their battlefield or perish whiledeluding ourselves that genteel persuasion can moderate the world'sMoussaouis. Their savage rationale - like it or not - is what the liberalWest must contend with. Moussaoui was jubilant because the jury that sparedhis life demonstrated the failure to recognize the new conventions ofcombat.

From his vantage point the jurors were suckers when they regarded him as acommon criminal rather than a warrior enemy and when they factored personalextenuating circumstances into their sentencing logic. Nothing here waspersonal, not the degree of culpability, nor the indiscriminate targeting ofvictims. Treating war as felony is a potentially fatal denial of reality.

THIS IS just one more presentation in the decent democracies' theater of theabsurd. Consider this - Moussaoui was sentenced to as long a term asJonathan Pollard, who has already served 21 years of his life sentence in amaximum-security US penal facility.

It's inculcated into us that the punishment must fit the crime. So how is itthat Moussaoui, who could have prevented the massacre of 3,000 innocents, isto do the same time as Pollard, who according to available informationleaked classified material to America's ally (Israel) about an enemy's(Iraq's) genocidal preparations against it?

American counter-espionage incontrovertibly apprehended bigger and moreferocious fish than Pollard - ones who had done their country real damage,unlike Pollard. Yet by comparison the truly dangerous agents weren't treatedanywhere as harshly as the one who was on the same side as America andsought to expose the very Iraqi WMDs that the current Washingtonadministration was purportedly after.

Pollard and Moussaoui essentially participated in the same conflict -Pollard on the Free World's side and Moussaoui on the side of IslamicJihadism. The American legal system failed to identify Moussaoui as thecombatant he is, just as it refused to admit that Pollard wasn't inimical toAmerican security. With such underlying cognitive malfunction, no wonderthere's no differentiation in penalty.

The preposterousness of it all, moreover, has bred a situation in which noleniency was shown Pollard but lots was extended to Moussaoui. Remember theancient Jewish adage? "He who is merciful to the cruel is bound to be cruelto the merciful."

Mind you, this is no cause for Israelis to deride American judicialfoolishness. At least, as the injustice to Pollard evinces, the Americanpenalty phase can be inflexibly stern. Moussaoui may end up rotting inColorado's federal "Supermax," where he'll be kept in solitary, deprived ofany contact other than with guards and officials. There will be novisitors - no family, friends or spiritual mentors. Nobody. The plan is tocut Moussaoui off from the world and make him a nonentity.

NO WAY would he have been treated as severely in an Israeli Supermax. Justsee how Fatah-Tanzim terror kingpin Marwan Barghouti actively conductsbusiness via his very comfortable Israeli prison quarters, where heformulates - in concert with Hamas inmates - terms of surrender dictatedjointly to Israel.

Just the other day the convicted murderer, serving five life terms plus 40years, granted yet another interview from behind bars, this time telling theLebanese al-Shiraa weekly that the PA's Hamas overlords must continuefighting Israel until it submits to their "sacred Right of Return" - codeterminology for overrunning Israel with millions of hostile Arabs, therebyterminating its existence as a Jewish state.

Like Moussaoui, Barghouti was tried as a criminal and given all the breaksof ordinary due process. Like Moussaoui, he exploited the courtroom forpropaganda antics. As in America, the press here hung on his every utteranceand amplified it. But it's highly unlikely that Moussaoui will be able torun Barghouti-like for elected office from his American cell, issueoperative commands and become a political headliner.

Israeli prisons are indeed unique. Not only do the most dangerous terroriststherein get hold of phones, but recently Hamas overtly conducted a massrally in a southern Israeli maximum-security penitentiary, where scores ofconvicts congregated in the courtyard, which they festooned with HamasIslamic-green banners and Palestinian flags.

A stage and speakers' rostrum were erected. The backdrop decor was a giantcollage, displaying the Hamas emblem, portraits of Hamas leaders, sloganscalling for Jihad against Israel and pictures of RPGs underscored by themotto "we'll continue." White plastic chairs were neatly arranged for the"audience," who cheered the invective hurled at the Zionist state and freelyphotographed the occasion - all under the disinterested eyes of passiveIsraeli wardens. The snapshots are available for viewing on the Web.

Terrorist lifers in Israel don't expect to end their existence in captivity.

They bank on Israel's gullibility and its revolving-door wrongheadedness,which has already released some of the world's worst villains regardless ofwhat Israeli judges meted out.

Indeed word is that, among its recent harebrained inanities, Israel is doingits darndest to rid itself of the voluble Barghouti and has already twice(unsuccessfully thus far) badgered the Americans that he be exchangedfor.Pollard! Pollard is deeply offended by Israel's insulting equation.Barghouti swaggers on insolently.

IMRA: One would have expected the following revellation to lead to calls foran inquiry into why the Government of Israel ignored such a clear message:

"During one of the Palestinian conferences I was able to infiltrate, YasserArafat reiterated what he had said his entire life: 'We will build aPalestinian system of many separate military units; only in this way will webe able to defeat the Jews and expel them to the sea'," ]

Pensioners' Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan said Friday, "according tointelligence information Iran will produce an operational nuclear bombwithin 3-10 years," adding that Israel has been left to deal with thesituation on its own as the US under the Bush Administration will not attackIran.

Speaking before members of the Trade and Industry Club in Tel Aviv, Eitansaid, "I believe that there is no power in the world that can prevent Iranfrom producing a nuclear bomb. Currently Israel does not have themilitary-political option of attacking Iran, as the US controls the PersianGulf, Iran and Iraq area," he said.

"We cannot attack without Washington's consent," Eitan said. "Bush is weakwithin the US, and the chance that he'll launch an attack against Iran isslim. I don't think sanctions will affect Iran in its quest for a bomb. Thethreat is not only directed toward Israel, but also at Arab and othercountries."

Turning his attention to Israeli-Palestinian relations, Eitan said, "thereis no chance of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians in the nearfuture."

'Arafat realized his vision'

Eitan, who served as Mossad's director of operations for many years, said"such agreements can be reached, but they wouldn't be worth anything at thisstage of our lives."

"During one of the Palestinian conferences I was able to infiltrate, YasserArafat reiterated what he had said his entire life: 'We will build aPalestinian system of many separate military units; only in this way will webe able to defeat the Jews and expel them to the sea'," he said.

"Arafat realized his vision and built separate units that were added to thePLO's military wings. This structure still exists in today's PalestinianAuthority; Hamas won't change it, and neither will Fatah. I don't see anyonewho can change it."

As to Prime Minster Ehud Olmert's plan to unilaterally evacuate settlementsin the West Bank Eitan said, "Israel must remain in the security zones,meaning all those zones we do not plan on annexing."